My girlfriend, Dana, was entering a grocery store parking lot one day when a battered, homeless woman caught her eye. The woman was holding a sign asking for a cup of coffee. Being the compassionate lady she is, Dana rolled down her car window to speak to the homeless woman and asked her, “Are you sure you only want a cup of coffee?” The beggar said darkly, “Yeah… just a cup of coffee.” Again, Dana persisted, “Are you sure? I can get you something else, too.” The woman again protested, “No. A cup of coffee.” So, Dana gave the woman what she asked for.
Why, with all the resources available to Dana, would a poor woman ask for only a cup of coffee? Common courtesy? Even if that was the case, when Dana offered more than that, the woman still asked for such a small thing. She had an entire grocery store at her disposal and that’s the best she could come up with? Coffee?
Why do beggars beg the way they do?
Well, I suppose it’s true… They say, “Beggars can’t be choosers.”
We read a story in the Bible about a stormy night. To make matters worse, the storm takes place on the sea. Jesus and his disciples are on a boat in the middle of the Sea of Galilee when, suddenly, an ominous black cloud moves in. Before they can react, a storm tramples through the sky and tosses the sea around as if it was a puddle. The terrified disciples are sopping wet as they are covered in water from above and below. Panic fills their minds as quickly as the water is filling their boat (Matt. 8:23-27). Imagine the loud sound of thunderclaps as the mist from the broken waves hit their faces. It’s a scene of desperation.
They need a savior. They need help like a beggar.
In the midst of the chaos, as they are trying to empty the floodwater from their boat, it occurs to them that someone’s missing… someone’s not pulling his weight. Jesus. Where’s Jesus? “Didn’t he just heal a man with leprosy, a centurion’s servant, and a bunch of other people?” they probably thought. “He can do miracles… where is he now?” Jesus was sleeping.
They literally begged him saying, “Lord, save us! Deliver us!” In Greek, that can be translated to, “Lord, heal us! We are dying!” One of them probably yelled out, “Grab a bucket! Help us! I’m begging you… help us get the water out of the boat!” Jesus got up and said in essence, “Come on, guys. Why don’t you believe in me? You have little faith.” He probably yawned, stood up from his nap, and told the storm to stop and… it did!
I wonder…
Is that what they expected Jesus to do? Is that what they meant when they yelled, “Save us!”?
That is, did they want a cart full of groceries or…
Just a cup of coffee?
The disciples didn’t ask Jesus to calm the storm. It seems like they just wanted him to grab a bucket, pour out the floodwater, and maybe help steer the boat back to shore. They didn’t even consider that simply telling the storm to stop was even a possibility.
The question I have for us, Reader, is this: What do we ask of our unlimited God?
Maybe you don’t ask God anything because you’re afraid that you’ll accrue too much debt. Maybe you don’t ask God anything because you don’t think He’s standing right in front of you. Maybe you’re blind to him. Maybe you only ask him for small things like, “God, help me to eat less sweets and to eat more vegetables.” Or maybe even, “Lord, help me to stop sinning.” I don’t know. I mean, believing that He can redeem every sin we have ever committed and creating a new life in us would be far too presumptuous. No, no. Our God is unlimited, but… asking for those big things is too much. It’s like a Miss America speech. It’s like a beggar. And… as we all know… Beggars can’t be choosers.
Right?
Look here. Stick with me!
Let’s look at another story from the Bible. This one’s about another beggar. John tells this story about a guy who was born blind. He couldn’t do any work because he couldn’t see, so he would just sit and beg. He was an outcast. A blind beggar begging for money and food. Jesus ends up walking by this guy and, having a compassionate heart, stops to help him. In order to help him, Jesus spits on the ground and mixes it around to make mud. Whatever. Then, he puts the spitty mud on the beggars eyes, tells him to go down to the pool and wash it off. With nothing to lose, the guy does what Jesus told him to do. Suddenly, he can see! He’s healed! (John 9:1-12)
What was that all about? The beggar was not asking for sight. He was not asking for a life changing miracle. He just wanted a proverbial cup of coffee. Jesus gave him more than that. He gave the blind man something he never had and something that he never could have gotten on his own. The beggar did nothing to inherit blindness and he did nothing to inherit God’s miracle. It was done, as Jesus said, for the glory of God (v.3). The pool to which the man was sent to receive his blessing was outside Jerusalem’s wall. It was literally called Sent. So, blindness was given to the beggar so that God’s light may shine; he was sent outside the city walls to be cleansed; the dirt was washed away so that he may gain literal sight and so that he may gain spiritual enlightenment. He eventually said to Jesus, “Lord, I believe” (v.38).
Who else was an outcast?
Who else was sent?
Who else was sent outside the city gates for the glory of God?
Who else was given darkness so that God’s light might shine?
Jesus! Jesus! Jesus! Say it out loud… Jesus!
Jesus was the ultimate beggar. In fact, he even portrayed himself as one in Matthew’s account (25:34-45). Jesus, though spotless and sinless, was sent in darkness outside the city gates to a hill called Golgotha to be murdered. He was blind for three days in the tomb. He was resurrected and made completely new so that God’s love may be available to all who beg of him. “Take this from me,” Jesus begged (Lk. 22:42). But, as he chose to serve God, the sins of the world were taken away. The Beggar… the Beggar chose God’s will. The Beggar, the Beggar chooses us. He chooses you, Reader! Whoever you are, whatever you’ve done, whatever you’ve chosen in the past. He chooses you now. He chooses me. He chooses us. Still.
Is it coincidence that Jesus was recorded saying that he was sent by God to be the light of the world? I mean, he just said that before he gave the blind man light in his darkness. It is both a metaphorical and a factual, literal story of healing. The blind man never asked for either. After all, he probably just wanted some food or money. He didn’t anticipate the complete healing of his body and soul. Because, of his enlightenment, though, he was confronted with a choice. Do I put my faith in this Jesus, or not? Later in the story, he utters the most precious words God wants to hear, “Lord, I believe.” Earlier Jesus said, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent” (John 6:63). I’d say this story is certainly the work of God. Beggars can be choosers.
Now, we have a choice to make. We can ask for coffee. We can ask for money. We could even ask for faith. Or… we could start asking for a complete miracle. We could start asking for a new life. Remember, God only gives. The disciples were given a storm. The beggar was given blindness. Jesus was given the curse. And every time God gave peace and light to those who asked for less than that. We, as beggars, can be choosers. We can choose Christ. He chose us so that we can choose him. We can choose to say with confidence for the glory of God, “Lord, I believe.”
“Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power
at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think”
(Eph 3:20 NLT).
